Rukia Kuchiki

Rukia Kuchiki
Bleach character
Cosplay of Rukia Kuchiki with a Kon doll
First appearance	Bleach #1 "Death & Strawberry" (2001)
Created by	Tite Kubo
Portrayed by	Hana Sugisaki
Voiced by	Fumiko Orikasa (Japanese) Michelle Ruff (English)

Rukia Kuchiki is a character from the manga and anime Bleach.

Ichigo was voiced by Fumiko Orikasa in Japanese and by Michelle Ruff in English. Hana Sugisaki played Rukia in the 2018 live-action movie.^[1]

Rukia was going to be the main character at first but creator Tite Kubo said that he chose Ichigo instead because he felt that Rukia did not seem like a main character.^[2]

Rukia is a soul reaper. She died in the human world over 150 years ago and was taken, along with her sister Hisana, to Soul Society. Hisana would end up abandoning Rukia because she could not take proper care of her and she would grow up alone. She would meet a boy named Renji Abarai, join his group and live with them as a family. During her time with them, Rukia would discover that she had spiritual powers.^[3] She would enroll in the Soul Reaper academy and Byakuya Kuchiki tells Rukia that his clan would adopt her as a member of the 13th division. During her time in the 13th division, Rukia became friends and trained with a man named Kaien Shiba. Rukia would end up having to kill Kaien after he is possessed by a hollow.^[4]

Rukia would be assigned to the human world and would meet Ichigo Kurosaki. She would end up giving her power to Ichigo after she is injured in a battle with a hollow. The next day, Ichigo sees that Rukia has enrolled in his school and she tells him that he needs to take over her duties as a soul reaper while she recovers. After a while, Rukia realises that she has become too comfortable with the human world and trys to leave. She would end up being confronted by Renji and Byakuya who tell her that she is under arrest and will stand trial in Soul Society.^[5] Ichigo would invade Soul Society to try and save her but is unable to. Rukia is made aware that the day of her execution was moved up.

Ichigo and Renji try to save her but are confronted by Sōsuke Aizen who reveals he faked his death and set her execution up. Rukia is saved by Byakuya and is told by him that her sister regretted abandoning her and that he was told to protect her.^[6]

Rukia decides to stay in Soul Society but is eventually sent with other members to help protect the human world after Aizen's arrancar army attacks. After the kidnapping of Ichigo's classmate Orihime Inoue, Rukia and the others are sent back to Soul Society. Rukia and Renji go to Hueco Mundo to save Orihime. Rukia ends up fighting an Espada named Aaroniero Arruruerie. Aaroniero says that he is in control of Kaien's spirit body. Rukia gets stabbed and ends up very injured after the battle but ends up killing him.^[7]

After being healed, Rukia defeats Reborn and saves Ichigo. She then tells him to go save Orihime. Ichigo ends up defeating Aizen but loses his powers in the process. Rukia and Ichigo bid farewell since they know it would be harder for them to see each other.^[8]

Since her introduction, Rukia has become a very popular and well liked character. She has often been placed on polls of Best or Most Popular Female Anime Characters.^{[9][10][11][12]}